Sometimes in life we find lessons where we least expect to find them. Karla and I are currently experiencing a new adventure in our journey of life. In May I will share this current adventure that we started in January. I want to complete the first part of this adventure before sharing it with you.
On March 14, 2015, I took my second trip to Honduras in the Agalta Valley on a working mission trip. It was an awesome experience to work with 60 other volunteers from all walks of life to help others and hopefully give them hope to keeping going for their dreams.
We worked hard everyday painting, landscaping, sewing, and teaching music. I was on the concrete mixing crew. It was hard work but good work, and it was great teamwork among the volunteers, and the people of the villages. After a hard day’s work we would return to a 1,400 acre working ranch. We would get cleaned up, eat dinner and relax to get ready for the next day. This trip I spent more time reflecting and learning more about the different organizations that are involved in Honduras.
During times of reflection, a couple of items really stayed on my mind. One was the importance of decisions and listening to that inner voice that resides in us. One evening after working in Honduras and just staring at the mountains and the huge cross from my bunk. I thought about a decision that seemed small at the time but was actually a life changing decision. I was thinking about how in 1981 after finishing architecture school I had to decide on what job offer to take to start my career. One was an offer in DC with a major construction company and the other was with Bechtel in Ann Arbor. I love DC and Karla and I weren’t dating at the time. Something said take the job at Bechtel. At the time both companies were great companies and still are great companies. I went back home to the college town of Ann Arbor and Karla and I reconnected and as they say the rest is history. As I reflected in Honduras I realized how different my life would had been if I had taken the job in DC in 1981. I know for sure God directed my steps and still does when I listen. Every decision we make big or small can be life changing. Believer in God or not, listen to that little voice inside.
The other item that stayed on my mind while in Honduras was about my Grandfather James Moody Sr., who came to America in 1901 from British Honduras, which is now Belize. He worked his way over on a banana boat and landed in New Orleans. He knew no one, as he had left his family and friends in Belize. He was determined to get an education. When he arrived in America, He was put back into the 6th grade at the age of 17 yet he went on to finish college and became a supervisor in the colored only school system. He and my Grandmother raised 8 kids in a shotgun house in Baton Rouge, LA and all 8 kids finished college. He never owned a car. He said he could walk faster to get where he was going than a car could take him. His story is so inspiring to me, and when I am in Honduras I am only a few hundred miles from where the Moody’s once lived. I feel like I am helping the next James Moody Sr. and just a few hundred miles from a big part of our family history. Below is a picture of him. I wish I could talk to him now. When I am in Honduras on the ranch, I feel a sense of peace.
I reflected about listening to the inner voice (God is my inner voice) that guides me. I reflected on the impact of the decisions we make in life. I thought about how we can do anything we want to do if we just take the first step. My grandfather took that step to come to America, and a few people of HOI.org had a dream over 25 years ago to work in Honduras and start a school. MAP.org started 60 years ago and on this trip gave it’s 5 billion dollars worth of medicine world wide.
As the sun began to set and the moon began to rise I listened to the cows and the the birds outside my window while I laid upon my bed. I thought about how we can make a positive difference in the world. All we have to do is take the first step. Will we take that step??? In May I hope to announce a major project I will embark on to help other adult childhood sexual abuse survivors that are still trying to heal, find God, Joy and Inspiration in the midst of Trauma.
I hope you enjoy the slideshow of pictures and check out the short video of our trip to Honduras. http://youtu.be/KlEfspDE834
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